TOP 10 Alternatives to Apify in 2026: Features, Prices, and Comparisons

I think it's safe to say that over the last couple of years, web scraping has completely changed. It used to be that if you wanted to scrape a handful of websites, you'd have to hire a whole team of developers. Fast-forward to today, and the world of web scraping has turned into something completely unrecognizable. What used to take literally weeks to complete is now done with literally a couple of clicks. So, where does this leave us? What makes this even more interesting is that as the industry continues to evolve, many people who previously relied on solutions like Apify are beginning to seek out specialized solutions that better address their individual needs. Essentially, it would be the equivalent of having a multi-tool (Apify) that can do everything from cut wood to perform delicate surgery—what you really need is to find the right tool for your specific job. This trend is particularly evident for those engaged in crypto analytics, processing real-time artificial intelligence models, or seeking narrow integrations with other tools.

To assist you in your search for an alternative solution to Apify, I have compiled a short list of the most viable alternatives. In this list, you will find a wide variety of different tools and solutions designed to meet very different needs, and the pricing and features of each of these tools will be included with the exception of hidden fees. Now, let's take a look at what we discovered during our analysis of the 43 different crypto-analysis automation solutions.

To summarize: There are no truly universal solutions. While Apify is excellent for some use-cases, it also suffers from major drawbacks when compared to other options for either speed of data collection or data processing costs in narrow, specialized use-cases (where dedicated or ready-to-use AI is required). Choose the right tool for your task, not the one that is being used the most widely.

Apify is an online web scraping automation service based on the Node.js platform. Simply put: pick a script (they're referred to as "Actor"), customize it to fit your desired web page and you get automatic data capture. There are pre made scripts for Amazon, Google Maps, LinkedIn, and hundreds of popular sites and apps.

The convenience of this system is that it runs purely in the cloud. You don't need to worry about deploying servers, setting up proxies, or dealing with headless web browsers, as all that is provided by Apify. Playwright, Puppeteer, automatic IP changing, and anti-bot bypass included.

A common scenario is when a marketer builds an Actor to follow the prices of his competitors on an e-commerce site. This Actor runs every six hours, collects data, uploads the data to Google Sheets, and sends a notification via Telegram each time a competitor's price drops by ten percent or more. The entire process is automated, and the data is updated constantly.

However, Apify's universal nature can also be a disadvantage. The limitations arise when you require real-time crypto analytics, a greater level of integration with AI models, or specific data processing on the blockchain. As your operations expand, so too do your costs, which is why so many users are searching for alternatives.

Selecting an alternative to Apify

Selection Factors

The most critical thing to consider is that you should never make your decision based exclusively on the cost. I have witnessed instances where a $29 monthly subscription was actually more expensive than a $99 subscription based on the limitations of operation.

Functionality should also be one of the key areas of focus. If your requirement is solely for scraping static web pages, using a lightweight HTTP Client such as Scrapy might be sufficient. However, if you are looking for dynamic data that requires CAPTCHAs to protect against automated bots or that has constantly changing formats, then you may want to investigate either Firecrawl or Oxylabs. For the purposes of utilizing AI agents, it is imperative that you select a platform which natively supports major LLM APIs and provides real-time streaming of data.

Barrier to Entry is another important consideration. For example, no-code automation platforms such as Browse AI, Gumloop or ASCN.AI NoCode enable you to set up automation within 10–15 minutes, even if you have no programming experience. On the other hand, both Apify and Scrapy require some familiarity with JavaScript or Python programming languages. If there are no developers on your team, then your decision is simple.

Integration. Ensure that the platform can be easily integrated into your existing technology stack. For example, native integration with a CRM, current Google Sheets usage or a tool like Telegram & Slack can dramatically reduce time spent on implementation. Without this feature, you would need to create workaround connections using services such as Zapier or Make.com.

Scalability/Reliability. When evaluating platforms, look at how many requests per second they support and their SLA (service level agreements). According to research conducted by ScrapingBee (2024), specialized services typically have an uptime rate of 99.7%, while more generic services have a range of uptime from 98.5% to 99.2%. The difference in uptime ultimately affects the ability to succeed in the financial sector.

The Transition Journey When Moving from Apify

The process of changing over from Apify is not simply about "copying scripts." The following points describe issues that many users encounter during their transitions.

• Writing New Code. It is necessary to adapt or rewrite the code for your existing JavaScript Actors in order to operate within the new platform's environment. As a result, an estimated 15 scripts required approximately 80 hours to rewrite for use in ASCN.AI projects.
• Loss of Integration. Apify has a number of pre-built integrations available; it is likely that the new platform will require you to create manual connections via the use of webhooks or API requests to integrate with systems.
• Cost to Scale. While it seems to be an economical option earlier, as you add load to the system it will reach a point where its costs skyrocket. You should build a financial projection of the next 6-12 months.

Pro Tip: You should conduct parallel testing. Do not immediately shut down Apify. For the first few weeks, utilise the new platform with a load of between 10% and 20%. Use this timeframe to gather data quality information (both speed, as well as stability) about the new system prior to making a complete transfer.

10 Best Alternatives to Apify

1. ASCN.AI NoCode

ASCN.AI NoCode offers a no-code platform with a focus on creating AI Agents, Web3, and Crypto analytics. A main advantage of ASCN.AI NoCode is its ability to deeply integrate with LLM's (large language models) as well as both Ethereum and Solana node networks (in real-time). It offers the user an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that has over 100 nodes for connecting to APIs, databases, and messaging Applications. Utilising ASCN.AI NoCode allows you to build and launch AI agents with no programming whatsoever.

Some key features of ASCN.AI NoCode are:

• An easy drag-and-drop workflow editor
• Has over 100 nodes for connecting to various APIs, databases, and messengers.
• Contains built-in support for OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, and proprietary models.
• Pre-built template sections available that contain templates for Finance, Sales, Analytics and Human Resources.
• Integration with key players, such as Telegram, Google Sheets, and the majority of CRMs using HTTP and webhooks.
• White Label Infrastructure to support your own product launches.

Pricing begins at $29 a month; Enterprise plans start at $299. Each of these plans is a fixed cost with no impact from the execution time.

Pros: Only platform with native access to Web3 data; can be set up in 10 minutes or less (no programming); offers deep AI integration; stores API keys securely ("Secrets") and supports a variety of languages.

Cons: Has a limited number of generic integrations when compared with Apify; may be too specialized in Crypto for your use case if you do not operate in Web3; the service is still relatively young.

Real World Example: A cryptocurrency fund automates the tracking of large transactions on the Ethereum Network using an AI agent. The AI agent will track the wallets of "whales" (people/companies holding millions/billions of dollars' worth of cryptocurrency), analyse their addresses, and send messages to Telegram regarding the results. During the October 2024 flash crash, their time to action dropped from 30-40 minutes to only about 5 minutes, allowing them to capture over +12% where other investors lost money.

2. Firecrawl

Firecrawl is a platform for AI applications designed to read and parse JavaScript-heavy web pages and return clean Markdown. By using FireCrawl, users can significantly reduce their LLM tokenization (about 67%). FireCrawl offers an open-source SDK for user development, no-code integrations, and transparent pricing.

Features: export Markdown, HTML, JSON, screenshots, and links. The service automatically renders JavaScript with one credit, with average response times of 1-5 seconds. Firecrawl also offers a playground for testing and can be integrated with other applications using n8n, Zapier, and Make. The open-source version of FireCrawl can be self-hosted.

Unique feature: Firecrawl describes its data extraction rules using natural language instead of CSS selectors or XPath. This makes it easier to maintain the scraper as website structures change.

Pricing: Firecrawl pricing ranges from $16/month for 3000 credits, up to $599 for 1 million credits. Failed requests do not use credits.

3. Octoparse

Octoparse is a SaaS platform that allows users to create data scrapers using a visual point-and-click method. Octoparse's goal is to develop an easy-to-use product for newcomers. The platform includes over 600 templates for scraping from popular websites as well as solutions to the issues related to using proxies and solving CAPTCHA.

Features: Users are able to create their own scrapers by simply clicking on their web pages using a point-and-click user interface, and are able to run their scrapers either locally (on their own computer) or in the cloud. The platform automates scrolling and pagination and allows users to export scrapes in the file formats of Excel, CSV, SQL databases, and Google Sheets.

Pricing: The monthly subscription costs for Octoparse range from $83/month (Standard plan) to $299/month (Professional plan). They also offer a free plan that allows for the completion of 10 active tasks per month and limited local execution capabilities.

4. Oxylabs

Oxylabs is an enterprise-grade solution with the world's largest proxy pool (175 million IPs), covering all countries, with fast proxy rotation and the ability to bypass sophisticated anti-bot systems.

Advantages: 175 million residential, data center, and mobile proxies. City-level geo-targeting. 99.9% uptime with SLA guarantees. Dedicated APIs for Google, Amazon, and social media.

Disadvantages: High starting price ($300/month); complex setup; no visual interface — API only.

5. Scrapy

Scrapy is an open-source Python framework for large-scale web scraping, ideal for high-load projects requiring complete control, no licensing fees, and the ability to self-host.

Advantages: Asynchronous processing of hundreds of thousands of requests; full control over proxies, cookies, and user agents; export to any format; database integration; JavaScript rendering support via Selenium/Playwright.

Disadvantages: High barrier to entry; user bears responsibility for infrastructure; bypassing CAPTCHA is difficult without additional tools.

6. Browse AI

Browse AI is a no-code platform for monitoring website changes and sending notifications. Users can create "robots" via a visual interface in minutes.

Advantages: No-code point-and-click builder; auto-detection of structure, pagination, and CAPTCHA; ready-made templates and integrations with popular no-code tools; monitoring with change history and alerts.

Pricing: from $48/month, with a free limited tier.

Disadvantages: One workflow per site; less flexibility compared to Apify.

7. Gumloop

Gumloop is a platform featuring an AI agent called Gummie, which builds workflows through natural language descriptions, combining web scraping, AI analysis, and data delivery into one process.

With this service, you can use GPT, Claude, and Gemini on a premium plan without needing your own API keys. Also, you can take advantage of AI agents that allow for self-performing tasks through automation without being dependent on humans to manually trigger the processes. The service offers a free tier with a 2,000 credit limit, and has a primary pricing tier starting at $37/month. Overall, while the platform contains a limited selection of pre-made templates, it is a suitable solution for implementing cases with advanced requirements.

8. Relay.app

Relay.app is a low-code solution for supporting an organisation's internal processes via "human-in-the-loop" capabilities, allowing a human to approve or edit automated results. The Relay.app platform offers a user-friendly workflow building experience much like Zapier, as well as email, newsletter and document monitoring capabilities. Relay also includes an AI Agent, making decisions for automated workflows. Pricing for Relay.app starts from just $38/user, while also offering a free version. The platform is more suited for operational activities vs volume scraping projects.

9. Thunderbit

Thunderbit is a Chrome extension that offers an AI-powered solution to speed up data scraping within your browser using natural language commands. Thunderbit is easy to get started with no server or configuration required; simply drag-and-drop your snippets onto the Thunderbit UI. In addition to providing user-friendly structured data means to accomplish your scraping needs, it also allows users to send scraped data directly to Google Sheets, Airtable, Notion and many more. Pricing for Thunderbit starts at only $15/month, and a free plan offers limited functionality. Since Thunderbit is a Chrome extension, it does limit you to using the tool only to collect data through your browser; meaning it will not work for scheduled/larger scraping projects.

10. Claude (Anthropic)

Claude is the family of LLMs produced by Anthropic, optimised to process large amounts of textual data. Claude is not a scraper, but is frequently used with scraped data for performing analyses. The service offers a "Basic" option for free and Pro pricing begins at $20/month. Users of the service can support up to 200,000 tokens, classify and structure large amounts of information and connect Claude with services such as Gumloop, Firecrawl, and n8n to deliver more powerful/complex solutions.

A Comparison of Features of the Top Ten Apify Alternative Platforms

FAQ

What factors affect your choice of an alternative platform for AI applications?

The type of application(s) that you want to develop using your application. If you want to integrate LLM integration, Markdown Conversion and Visual Builder capabilities, then Firecrawl or ASCN.AI NoCode will work best for your needs in those areas. For complex projects that require classification and/or content generation support at scale, you will find ASCN.AI NoCode, Gumloop, and Relay.app will provide you with adequate capabilities.

What has caused teams to search for Apify alternatives?

According to a report published by ScrapingBee in 2024, there were three reasons causing teams to look for Apify alternatives:

• Price increases as you scale up (15-20x increase in price).
• Inability to integrate complex AI into Apify. Data from LLM's requires the use of additional layers between Apify and LLM. Cloud-based providers with direct native GPT/Claude connections have a significant advantage over Apify.
• While Apify is a versatile and universal web scraping solution, it will come behind the specialty-based providers in the market such as Oxylabs for proxies, Browse AI for monitoring changes, and ASCN.AI NoCode for Web3 data collection.

Can Apify handle very large-scale web scraping?

From a technical perspective yes, it can handle billions of requests to/from their platform. Economically it may be viable for medium-sized request volumes and rapid prototyping, but at the very high-end of large-scale requests (10M+ pages a month) the cost can run as high as $25,000, while self-hosting an instance of Scrapy or n8n may cost about $700, approximately 35X less than the cost of an Apify solution.

What is the least expensive solution to Apify?

Scrapy is a free, open-source web scraping framework. The only expenses are related to your server(s) and your proxy service provider(s). For no-code, cloud-based web scraping solutions, the best prices are Thunderbit ($15/month), Relay.app ($10/month with limitations), and ASCN.AI NoCode ($29/month).

What Apify alternative offers the most responsive support?

Oxylabs has the best enterprise customer support as they assign a dedicated account manager to every customer and guarantee an SLA with one-hour response time. n8n has a strong community and documentation, which sets them apart from others. ASCN.AI NoCode has dedicated personalized support.

Is it legal to scrape Google Maps?

Automated scraping from Google Maps without using their official API is strictly prohibited and creates both legal and technical risks. The options for collecting data from Google Maps are to utilize their official API (though expensive to use), or collect the data through third-party aggregators and/or open-source projects such as OpenStreetMap.

Conclusion

When determining which solution to use as an alternative to Apify it is essential to consider the needs of your organization, the budget available for your project, and your team's experience level. For organizations that require artificial intelligence (AI) agents or advanced Web3 capabilities, ASCN.AI NoCode is the most appropriate first choice. If you are in need of AI analysis with Markdown output, use Firecrawl. To maximize your savings when scraping large amounts of data to support your business operations, choose Scrapy. If you require the best anti-bot protection for your web scraping projects, Oxylabs has the solution to maximize your chances for success.

For those just starting to learn web scraping and coding, Browse AI, Octoparse, and Thunderbit will be the most user-friendly. For teams requiring a multi-level approval process, consider using Relay.app. Do not forget to evaluate the cost associated with scaling your solution. Subscription-based pricing will provide you with predictable expenses, while on-demand pricing can quickly add up and escalate without you knowing it.

I recommend to try out two or three different platforms with a live use case for 2 to 4 weeks prior to utilizing the platform for larger or more complex solutions. This will provide insight into how user-friendly each solution is and whether speed, reliability, and data quality meet the standards you have set.